Man jailed for stealing alcohol from Deeping supermarket

A Romanian immigrant was jailed for 10 weeks after stealing almost £600 worth of alcohol from Tesco in Market Deeping.

Nicolae Suta, (30), of St James Park Road, Northampton, pleaded guilty to the theft of the alcohol, valued at £598, from the store in Godsey Lane on June 28 when he appeared before Grantham magistrates on Monday.

Prosecuting, Daniel Paulson told the court that Suta was seen taking 23 bottles of alcohol and putting them in a trolley. He put food on top of them to cover them up and then walked out of the store. He was stopped by staff and all the stolen items were recovered. Mr Paulson said Suta had breached a suspended jail sentence which had only been imposed six days before the Tesco theft.

Defending, Navinder Parmar said his client had been in the country for just under a year and had been unable to get a job. He said Suta did not speak good English and had no national insurance number.

Mr Parmar said: “He finds himself travelling to different areas looking for work. On June 28 he was in the area on the promise of a job which did not transpire and he went to Tesco and committed the theft.

The court was told the theft was not well planned. Suta filled up the trolley and set off the alarm as he walked out. Suta, who has a wife and two children in Romania, fully complied with the police and apologised.

Magistrates sentenced Suta to eight weeks in prison for breaching the suspended sentence and gave him a further two weeks in prison for the theft in Tesco. He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £80 and criminal court charge of £180.